Faceoff Factor

Penguins Need New Recipie For Devils

Jesse Marshall | National Hockey League

Mar 13, 11:58 AM | Hype this story!

Outscored 17-3 in 5 games, the Pittsburgh Penguins have struggled more with the New Jersey Devils than any team in the National Hockey League.

The current run they’re on is enough to stir up memories of the repeat beatings in Philadelphia that the Penguins suffered all those years ago.

No matter how well the team is playing or how poor thing seem for the Devils, when these two teams converge, it’s nearly the same story each time.

The Devils slow the pace. Get a strange goal. Eat up the clock. Get some calls sent their way. Broduer takes over.

It’s a recipie for disaster, not to mention a 12 point swing in the Atlantic Division standings.

The game could have been over tonight after the first early Devils goal, but Sidney Crosby saw to it that the Penguins quickly equalized. Even then, the Penguins couldn’t catch a break and get another puck behind Martin Broduer.

With how well the Devils have been employing Lou Lamoriello and Jacque Lemaire’s excitement-sucking trap, the Penguins are going to have to re-organize with a new game plan heading into Wednesday’s rematch.

The question I’m posing to you is: where do we go from here?

Sure, the officiating last night was more than questionable, but
aside from that, the Penguins didn’t force the issue enough against the Devils. Marc-Andre Fleury was caught scrambling too much in his own end as, sure enough, it was the Devils who ended up carrying long posessions in the offensive zone.

The Devils game is all about calculated risk. It’s about bodies in lanes and players collapsing on a puck carrier. This, as one might figure, calls for the Penguins to dump the puck in against the Devils. But here, we have a double edged sword. When you dump against the Debbies, you run into Martin Broduer’s unreal puck handling abilities behind the net.

So what’s the answer?

As far as I can tell, there’s two ways to accomplish victory against the Devils.

The first way is to live by the “do unto others” cliché. The Penguins can counter the Devils play doing what the Devils are so good at. Slow down the game and take more calculated risks.
Beating the Devils 1-0 in a shootout is still 2 points towards clinching the Atlantic and getting off the snide against the them.
We know Dan Bylsma doesn’t play that way, so moving that direction seems like a bit of a strech.

What I’d expect to see, and what I think the Penguins need to do, is dump the puck in a smarter manner and get after the Devils defense. The Penguins weren’t nearly punishing enough last night, even though they did take the body quite often. They let the Devils control too much of the game.

Dan Bylsma talks about the Penguins “getting to their game.”
Down the stretch, that means putting your body out there and crushing the opposition at every opportunity.

The Penguins need to head back to the prudential center next Wednesday with a warrior mindset.

Get in Broduer’s face. Cycle the puck to the point. Take control of the game’s physical tempo.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, in addition to needing some breaks, just need to get back to being themselves against this Devils squad. The wins will shortly follow.